HALFWAY THROUGH A TOUR of the USC/ Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ronald Corradini 72 realized that he had the means to make a difference in the fight against cancer.As the researchers explained their work and told me why there is hope for fighting the disease, I was immediately impressed with their drive and passion for work. It was contagious, he said.Corradini decided on the spot to pledge $1 million in cash over 10 years to help build the Harlyne J. Norris Research Tower at the cancer center.I would love to have been able to do something medically to help people, he said. This is my way of touching the medical world  to provide researchers the resources to do their work. If that helps save someones life or extend someones life, that would make me feel just great.Corradini, a San Marino resident and owner of a specialty contracting firm, said that he recently turned 50 and prepared a list of goals he hopes to accomplish in coming years.Among them, he said, is a desire to assist the community as well as the university that helped prepare him for the world of business.Ive done quite well in business, he said, and I believe its a direct result of my going to USC  not merely the educational aspects, although those were the tools, but also through the people who became my friends.

THE 180,000-SQUARE-FOOT Harlyne J. Norris Research Tower will consolidate clinical research programs into a single building, enabling scientists and clinicians to speed the pace at which effective treatments can be developed and delivered to patients.

People Helping People Award Goes to Mara Hunter Redden 75

Swim With Mike, the annual swim-a-thon that raises money for the USC Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship Fund, honored volunteer Mara Hunter Redden 75  shown here with her husband, Daniel Redden 63  with its People Helping People Award during last springs swim. An active volunteer with several organizations, Hunter Redden has helped with every Swim With Mike since the event began 19 years ago. She is currently fighting  and winning  her own battle against ovarian cancer. During the fund-raiser, Maras Lane was reserved for her husband, who has raised $40,000 in pledges already.The swim is named for Mike Nyeholt, a three-time All-American swimmer at USC who was paralyzed following a motorcycle accident in 1981. The People Helping People Award was added to Swim With Mike in 1988 to honor President Gerald Ford, who swam in the event that year.